Very small box for 1 SA 12 ported?

[IronMaiden]

Hey guys,

I bought a SA 12 Version 3 and a Massive Audio D3600 amp for my 2010 VW Jetta Sportwagen. The sub will be placed in a custom sealed box, which goes into the spare tire well. I only have about 1 sqft box interior room in the well. That’s why I opted for the SA 12 which is suggest for 1 sqft when sealed.

I want to keep my wagon “stealth”, meaning I do not want a box in the trunk and no ports sticking out. I need the room in the trunk for my stuff all the time.

What I’m looking for is a quality bass that “surprises” at melodic music with deep and clean sound. Since everything else in my cars is stock and I’m already dealing with tinnitus from years of excessively loud music, I’m not looking for extremely loud music.

I’m going to fade the sound to the 3 way speakers in the front doors, the sub will be hooked to the signal for the rear doors which are silenced for a half way decent front stage. The SA 12 in the spare tire well is supposed to provide the low and clean bass that doesn’t overlay or dominate the front stage. Later on I might amp the speakers in the door with a dedicated unit but honestly, the amp in the stock HU stays clean past the loudness I’m willing to put on my damaged hearing.

Now, I just read on different threads that the SA 12 doesn’t sound well in a sealed box and I was wondering if there is any ported box option at 1 sqft without having to use any external aeroports. Whats going to happen if I put 1 large and short port in this 1 sqft box? I won’t be able to do any L shaped ports, at best just a port about 4 inches deep.

The planed sealed box will be 18 x 18 x 7 exterior. The ported version would have to be the same size. Larger won’t fit and I don’t want to deal with an octagon or anything “round” in order to squeeze a little more room out.

Thanks for any help and suggestions.

Iron

[Joe X]

You can't even do a standard sized sealed box, building on those dimensions would get you 0.73 cubic feet net.

[IronMaiden]

Not 18 x 18 x 7 but 18 x 18 x 8.5.

7 was interior, my mistake, worked through the night.

[Wehan]

Still puts you at .89 after all displacement. Just build the sealed box and see how you like it. If you can I would return the sundown and get an FI X 12, works in .5-1.5 sealed enclosures, takes more power and will sound beautiful.

[Joe X]

Not 18 x 18 x 7 but 18 x 18 x 8.5.

7 was interior, my mistake, worked through the night.

According to my calculations that puts you at 1 cf net sealed, if you are unwilling to give up more space then build that, maybe it will meet your goals except you will have a weaker low end as compared with ported.